craze English · revision 1010

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɹeɪz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|crasen|t=to shatter, crush]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of Scandinavian origin,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) related to Swedish and Norwegian ''krasa'' “to shatter, crush”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) possibly imitative.^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline and Weekley suggest it came through Old French ''acraser'', ''escraser'' (French ''écraser'').^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To break in pieces, to shatter (c. 1369).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “to break” the verb passed to “to break down in health” (1476) and, perhaps by the image of a cracked thing, to “to derange the mind” (1496–97).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The sense of cracking survives in the fine network of cracks in pottery glaze (1832).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The noun meant a flaw or defect (1534),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) then an irrational fancy or mania (1813),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and a short-lived popular enthusiasm, a fad (1877).^(Barnhart 1995) ''[[Crazy]]'' meant “broken down, sickly” in 1576 and “insane” from 1617.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1369 – to shatter.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1476 – to break down in health.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1496–97 – to derange the mind.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1534 – noun, a flaw or infirmity.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1813 – a mania.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1832 – of glaze, to become finely cracked.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1877 – a fad.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short-lived popular fashion or enthusiasm; a [[fad]] or [[mania]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fine crack in a surface or [[glaze]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make insane or obsessed; to [[derange]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To become insane.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To produce, or to develop, a network of fine cracks in a surface or glaze.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To break or shatter.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crazy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crash]]

+ * [[crackle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}